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Trading cards, blind boxes, LEGO, figures and grading. Where collector demand is heading and how counterfeits and grading rules affect buyers. No investment advice.
Collectibles and Toys Buyer’s Brief
Small cheap toys are where almost all 2026 toy enforcement landed. The four rules that apply, our own count of the recall file, and what a recall notice can and cannot tell a buyer.
Collectibles and Toys Buyer’s Brief
Household battery volumes are falling while prices inch up on tariffs, and a fifth of 2026 toy recalls involve batteries a child can reach.…
Collectibles and Toys Trend Report
The cheapest end of the toy aisle is the part that grew in 2026. Mattel Vehicles billings rose 17% and then 14% while dolls…
Collectibles and Toys Explainer
Water beads are not banned outright, but since March 12, 2026 a bead in a toy has to pass a 5.0 mm gauge fully…
Collectibles and Toys Market Shift
CPSC published 73 recall notices naming a toy in the first nine months of 2026, against 7 in all of 2023. Magnets, button cells…
Collectibles and Toys Price Trail
PSA’s cheapest open service level is now $59.99 with a 90 to 100 business day estimate, and its Value tiers have been shut since…
Collectibles and Toys Explainer
U.S. Pokémon sales jumped 87% to $2.5 billion in 2025, and supply has not caught up. Who is buying, what retailers changed, and how…
Collectibles and Toys Market Shift
Labubu is still Pop Mart’s biggest line, but its revenue fell 7.5% and Americas online sales dropped 45.6% in the first half of 2026.…
Collectibles and Toys Buyer’s Brief
Only five of LEGO’s 20 Smart Play sets include the Smart Brick, LEGO lists the cheapest at $69.99, and the battery is sealed. What…
Collectibles and Toys Price Trail
The government’s toy price index was 4.0% higher in July 2026 than a year earlier, after two years of declines. What is pushing prices…
Collectibles and Toys Trend Report
U.S. toy sales to adults rose 25% and to teens 33% in the first half of 2026, and adult-only households now account for 55%…
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